Johann Heinrich Schönfeld (1609–1684) was a German painter in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

style.

Biography

He was the son of Johann Baptist Schönfeld (?-1635); a

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

. From birth, he was blind in his left eye and could only use his right hand for simple tasks, so he was not trained as a goldsmith, as would have otherwise been the case. Instead, he received lessons in painting from in

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-W� ...

. Later, he took study trips to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

and

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

. In 1633, at the height of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

, he fled to Italy. Originally, he lived in Rome, then moved to Naples around 1649. After a brief stay in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

he returned home in 1651. The following year, in Pfuhl (near

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

) he married Anna Elisabetha Strauß. They had eight children together. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

, where he became a citizen and a member of the Master's Guild. In the following years, he created many church paintings; notably at

Würzburg Cathedral Würzburg Cathedral (german: Würzburger Dom) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg and has served as the burial place for the Prince-Bishops of Wür ...

, where he painted Christ carrying the Cross and a likeness of Saint

Leonard of Noblac Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559), is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Hau ...

. Both paintings burned during the

bombing of Würzburg in World War II The Bombing of Würzburg in World War II was a large-scale air attack on the city of Würzburg (in Franconia, in the north of Bavaria), and was part of the strategic bombing campaign by the Allies against Nazi Germany. Although lacking major ...

.Stefan Kummer: "Architektur und bildende Kunst von den Anfängen der Renaissance bis zum Ausgang des Barock." In: Ulrich Wagner (Ed.): ''Geschichte der Stadt Würzburg.'' Vol.2, ''Vom Bauernkrieg 1525 bis zum Übergang an das Königreich Bayern 1814.'' Theiss, Stuttgart 2004, In addition to religious works, he painted mythological and

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...

scenes. One of his best-known students was Johann Schmidtner.

References

External links

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Biography
@ the Augsburger-Gedenktage {{DEFAULTSORT:Schonfeld, Johann Heinrich 1609 births 1684 deaths People from Biberach an der Riss 17th-century German painters German male painters Baroque painters

Biography

References

Further reading

External links